Slip, Trip and Dip
by SunMoonKunochi
Summary: When you dance, there's bound to be some mistakes here and there, but you recover soon enough and finish your routine; sometimes surprised by what came from your mistakes. A collection of one-shots of life in Fairy Tail and their interactions; slipping, tripping their way through life before finishing with a final dip of perfection. (Sadness, friendship, humour and pairings.)
1. Partnership

**Hey there, this is just something I chucked together since I had an urge to write NaLu fluff and I just needed a break from my other big stories. There's going to be several pairings in here, though, as well as general feels between the Fairy Tail members – and maybe other guilds, I'm just not too sure. It **_**is **_**a multi-chapter, as well.**

**IMPORTANT: So, the title is Slip, Trip and Dip; these all have a meaning. They can be considered in a dance context, really, but it's also just the general action.**

**A **_**Slip**_** is when someone slides and flails about, trying to regain their balance – if a chapter is a **_**Slip, **_**then it is usually surprising revelations that leaves the main person stumbling as their mind tries and catches up. E.g. Someone blurting out that they like the smell of such and suchs hair to their face.**

**A **_**Trip **_**is the action of completely falling over oneself, or something else, and hitting the ground – A **_**Trip **_**will usually be something sad or angsty, but can also just be a pairing fumbling their way through something incredibly, horrifyingly awkward; like, more so than a mere slip.**

**Finally, a **_**Dip **_**is a perfectly choreographed move that's smooth and usually a big finisher – the **_**Dips **_**will usually be incredibly romantic and just pairings. PAIRINGS GALORE!**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoy this, even though I won't update it much.**

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><p><strong>Category: <strong>_Slip._

**Warning: **_Just Natsu being oblivious and Cana's crude and blunt statements._

**Disclaimer: **_Not owning Fairy Tail~!_

**Summary: **_No matter how many times Natsu's told there's a difference, Lucy's still his partner._

**Pairing: **_Most certainly implied NaLu! Tiniest bit of GaLe if you take it that way._

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><p>Many people in the guild today were wary about going anywhere near the bar today. It was almost like Mirajane had this aura around her that warned them off. It wasn't the demonic feeling that the girl had around her when she was younger and Erza had won one of their scraps. Nope. It was more a feeling of a predator in waiting – not like that was any worse than Demon Mirajane, really.<p>

The only person who didn't see the obvious warning signs of something was up with the residential barmaid was Natsu. And everywhere that Natsu went, Happy was sure to follow.

Natsu, feeling like he would have a casual day today, wandered up to the bar with Happy fluttering on beside him, intent on ordering some sort of banquet of food to sate his appetite.

(Later on, Wakaba swore that Mirajane's eyes _glowed _when Natsu sat down on a barstool in front of her.)

"I'd like a flaming chicken dish to start today, Mira!" Called out Natsu to the barmaid, grinning wolfishly as he thought of the delicious food that was sure to come to him soon.

"Aye!" Happy said cheerfully as he sat down on top of the bar and made his wings disappear. "I'd like a fish! A really big fish!" The exceed proceeded to drool as he thought of his favourite snack, food and desert. He then turned to Natsu as a thought came to him. "Do you reckon I should get a fish for Carla as well, Natsu?"

"I'm sure she'll enjoy it!" Natsu ruffled the top of Happy's head cheerfully. "So why not?!"

"Aye!"

"Oh, Natsu," Mirajane called with an odd gleam in her eyes as she placed a fish in front of Happy, a plate of chicken in front of Natsu, and proceeded to douse it in a special oil and light on fire with a match from a matchbox she kept in her dress pocket. "Where's Lucy today?"

"She's at her place writing another chapter for her novel," Natsu managed to say between bites of his flaming chicken.

"Okay." Mirajane leant forwards on the bar and stared Natsu down. "And how do you feel about that?"

Baffled now, Natsu glanced up from his food. "What do you mean by 'how do you feel?' What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean," Mirajane said slowly, "how do you feel that Lucy's spending time at home? Alone. _Without you_."

"She does write her novel occasionally," Natsu said in a confused tone, "so how's today any different to any other time?"

"I asked how you _feel _about Lucy not being here, not what she's doing while she's not here," huffed Mirajane. "I already know that she's home writing her novel – you just said that!"

Happy wrinkled his nose as he looked up from where he was chewing on his half-eaten fish. "You're acting really weird today, Mira, are you sure you've eaten enough fish today?"

Quickly shooting a dark smile at Happy that, frankly, cowed the exceed into silence – Mirajane's smiles can be terrifying when she closes her eyes and cocks her head like that – Mirajane turned her attention back to Natsu. "Well?"

"Well what?" Natsu demanded.

"Well," Cana chimed in, having heard the conversation from her usual place sitting at the bar and having slid down without anyone noticing her get closer, "what do feel about Lucy? Do you get this _irresistible _urge to run to her side or something? If so, that's kind of lame."

Natsu scowled at Cana, pushing away his finished plate of food for a refill that Mirajane ignored. "I don't feel an urge to run to Lucy; what do you even mean by that?"

"How about you get this pain in your heart when she's not around," supplied Mirajane.

"No."

"An aching feel, then?"

"No."

"How about you feel like something's missing when she's not around?"

"No. Why are you asking these weird questions? Usually Lucy's the only weirdo in the guild."

Mirajane had to supress a shriek of frustration at Natsu's natural obliviousness. Why couldn't he see?!

"Here," Cana said to the clearly irritated Mirajane, "let me try." Staring at Natsu, Cana began to shoot questions at him. "What's Lucy to you? You call her a weirdo, so is she just a weirdo? Is that all she is to you? Is that all she'll ever be to you? Don't you just want to pin her up against the wall, run your hands across her sweater puppies and completely-"

"Cana!" Mirajane said sharply, "there's no need for that!"

The drunkard shrugged uncaringly, "what? It's not like he'll understand anyways. And I know that you want that to happen."

Trying _very hard _not to let a blush bloom across her face, her nose to bleed, or pass out at the thought of her favourite shipping doing _that_, Mirajane waved at her heated face and wisely stayed silent.

Briefly wondering what exactly Cana was trying to say, and what the hell _sweater puppies _were exactly – Natsu swore that Lucy doesn't keep puppies in her sweaters; that is, if she even owns a sweater, it's not like Natsu's seen her in anything that covering – Natsu fiddled around for an answer to Cana's questions. "Lucy's…"

Both Cana and Mirajane paused their impromptu stare-down contest to look at Natsu expectantly as he gazed up at the ceiling with an abnormally thoughtful expression on his face. "Lucy's…? Lucy's what?"

"Luce is my best friend," Natsu decided on, "and a weirdo! And…my partner! Yeah, she's my partner!"

"Your special partner?" Mirajane gave a wink towards Natsu. "Your partner in love!"

"Partner in sex?" Cana offered up as she took a chug from her usual barrel of alcohol.

Baffled once more, Natsu merely blinked once. "She's my partner."

"Yes, Natsu," sighed Mirajane, beginning to lose her fire for squeezing answers out of Natsu on his secret love for Lucy, "she's your partner; but what type of partner?"

"The best partner!" Natsu pumped his fist excitedly. "She's the best partner 'cause she _always _goes on missions with me – even if Ice princess and Erza tag along." Natsu showed a face of disgust at the mere thought of having to spend time with his rival and the person he feared most (excluding transport). "And even though she always kicks me out of her apartment when I go over, or hits me when I set her clothes on fire, she'll always be my partner."

Cana sent Mirajane a sly look. "Your partner for life?"

Natsu blinked. "Well…yeah; there's no one else she's allowed to partner up with either than me! Not Frosty-pants or Erza! No one!"

Letting out a soft 'awww' of adoration, Mirajane continued to press this point of partnership; it was seeming to go somewhere with Natsu, for once. "Will she be your partner in holy matrimony?" Mirajane looked over at Cana and the two shared secret laughter. Happy joined in on the laughter, having caught up with their game.

"What do they mean in holy matrimony?" Natsu asked Happy, since he seemed to understand what was going on.

Luckily, Happy had the answer for him. "It means that you'll be Lucy's partner for life!"

"But I'm already Lucy's partner for life," mused Natsu, "so I guess that means that I'm joined with her in holy baloney, or whatever it is." Natsu looked contemplative before he brightened up considerably. "Yeah! I'm totally Lucy's partner in holy baloney!"

"Matrimony," Mirajane corrected him through her giggles, "it's matrimony."

"Matrimony," Natsu repeated dutifully, "do you think Lucy knows that we're partners in holy matrimony, Mira?" The Fire mage asked it with such a hopeful expression that Mirajane couldn't help but play along. "No, Natsu, I don't she does."

"Alright!" Natsu yelled out, "I'll go and tell Lucy now!"

"Tell me what?" Said blonde asked as she stepped behind Natsu. "Hey, Mira, Cana."

"Hello, Lucy," the two girls chimed together, both anxious to see what would happen next.

"Hey, Lucy!" Natsu said excitedly, bouncing in his seat as he twisted around to face the blonde as she slid into a seat beside him. "You're my partner, right?"

"Yeah," Lucy said, uncertain as to where this was going, "we're partners. On our jobs, I mean."

"And we're going to be partners for life, aren't we!" Natsu continued.

"Um," Lucy scowled slightly, "when did we decide such a thing, and where was I at that exact moment?"

"I'm not going to let you be partners with anyone else!" Declared Natsu. "We're going to be partners in holy matrimony!"

"W-WHAT?!" Shrieked Lucy, jumping off her chair to alternately glare and blush at her partner. "WHAT GAVE YOU THAT IDEA?!"

"We're going to be partners forever," Natsu said slowly, as if he was explaining it to a child. "So that means we're going to be partners in holy matrimony."

Lucy slapped her face. "Oh my god, Natsu, just because you think we're going to be partners or life, doesn't mean that we're going to be partners in holy matrimony! You need to go to a church and have a reverend bless us as we say our vows to be partners like that!"

"Fine," Natsu said stubbornly, "we'll just go to the church now and get that reverend, or whatever, to bless us so that we can be partners for life!"

And with that declaration, Natsu promptly got up off his stool, grabbed Lucy, slung her over his shoulder, and marched out the door, intent on finding the nearest church and acting out his declaration.

The guild watched them go, most of them confused as to why exactly Lucy was wailing and trying to claw her way off where she was slung over Natsu's shoulder, calling out for help from the deviously grinning Cana and Mirajane.

Gajeel glanced up from where he was chewing on some nails beside Levy, took one look at the scene, at Mirajane's and Cana's expression before going back to reading Levy's book over her shoulder. "I don't wanna know."

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><p><strong>This is definitely a collection of one-shots, although some may be continued over time. They'll be short, most likely, as well as a few AUs chucked in there. I wanted to write some one-shots, but I then decided that I wanted to write heaps and heaps! So it was better to put it all together so I can keep it neat. Hope you guys enjoyed!<strong>


	2. Together

**Listening to Heaven while writing this; perfect motivation for sadness! Excellent! A quick question, though; what the hell could you call Gray, in Juvia's point of view? I wrote her crush, but that didn't seem anywhere near what he is to her – words can't describe how much he means to her.**

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><p><strong>Category: <strong>_Trip._

**Warning: **_Some feels and character death._

**Disclaimer: **_Me owning Fairy Tail is as likely as me being able to shoot lasers from my eyes – not very._

**Summary: **_They've already joined together before, what's forever to a lifetime without each other?_

**Pairing: **_Gruvia._

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><p>There was nothing else to be done. Gray had promised – sworn – to never use Iced Shell again to Natsu, and to himself. But it seemed to be impossible to defeat this demon.<p>

It was one of Zeref's demons that had accidentally been released from the amulet it had been sealed into. It had been released in a quaint, seaside town, where no mages lived in due to its low population; so they had sent out a request to several guilds to help them before the monstrous creature destroyed their town and made its way towards other neighbouring towns.

Gray had chosen the job, thinking that it was a regular, small demon extermination job, as the job did not say that it was one of Zeref's – in fact, the seaside town of Port did not know it was one of Zeref's creations as they had no business in magical affairs and was not knowledgeable of such things.

Upon leaving for the trip, Juvia had requested to come along to accompany her love and – surprisingly – Gray had assented and let the girl tag along. So with a wave to their guild members, the two left for the train station, planning to take the train all the way to Port, which would take the entire day.

Upon arriving at the stop before Port, everyone was ordered off the train, as the train tracks ahead were having maintenance performed upon them.

Juvia had expressed her suspicions and vague feelings that something was…_off _about this whole situation. She had expressed such thoughts as they continued their way to Port on foot, and Gray could only agree; something didn't seem _right _about the whole atmosphere. It was almost a vague sensation that chilled his spine; much like when he had seen his own death and could feel the phantom pains, even now.

The way that Juvia looked at Gray with utter adoration and devotion in her eyes when Gray reassured her that they would be fine made this odd echo in Gray's chest, making him turn his head away swiftly from her and merely grunt in agreement to whatever she spoke of after that, not really hearing her words, but seeing her face and feeling her emotions as they continued to walk on.

Gray wished that he had said something then, before everything…before everything became this one demon and this singular battle that was bleeding him dry; magical power, determination, and blood.

It was only the knowledge that the demon would continue to destroy towns and people's lives, as well as the fact that Juvia was holding back the monster by herself that Gray pulled himself up off the ground, spat blood to the side, and continued to fight on. It was futile, he knew now, but if Juvia was continuing to fight with that determined gleam in her eyes and pushing her entire being into stopping the demon, then Gray would continue to fight alongside her – if only to delay the inevitable for a while longer.

"Gray-sama's injured," croaked Juvia as she dropped back to stand beside the injured mage, "he shouldn't continue to keep fighting; Juvia will handle the demon. Juvia will not have Gray hurting himself even more if she is too weak to fight."

It was hard not to hear the unspoken words of _I will not let you sacrifice yourself when I die _that lingered behind Juvia's words, tainting the already morose situation with layers of sadness.

"Juvia," Gray rasped out from his (surely if they hurt this much) broken ribs, "I have to keep fighting – you know this."

"Juvia knows," whispered the girl, her eyes not on Gray as they normally were, but on the towering demon that seemed so large that it surely could not be beaten, "but that doesn't mean that Juvia has to like it. Juvia doesn't want…Juvia wishes…"

"I get it," Gray said quietly, placing a cold and bloodied hand on her scraped and bruised shoulder that peeked through her torn dress.

Juvia looked across at her crush to give him a smile so beautiful that it was heartbreaking. "Juvia wishes that she didn't feel like this, but Juvia's glad that…when Juvia passes, Juvia will have Gray-sama by her side, to ease Juvia's pain."

"Yeah," Gray said uncomfortably, "I'm glad that you're here, too, even if it means that we both die."

Juvia flinched at the word, but quickly pulled up a mask of determination at the roar of the demon as it grew impatient with insignificant beings that had fought him mere moments ago, but were now simply standing at his feet and doing nothing. It let out another roar that would put thunder to shame, and swiped at them with taloned paws that raked the earth and created new valleys.

"Juvia!" Gray cried out when the girl lifted him out of the way with her water and took the full force of the attack, dissolving into streams of water that splattered across the ground. Gray knew that she would put herself back together again, but it would take time since she was so spread out.

Growling lowly in his throat, Gray was pulled back to his previous thoughts; he had to use Iced Shell. Ul had used to contain one demon, so he would use it to contain another. His life was done for here anyways, so he might as well put it to good use.

Taking the familiar stance with his arms crossed in front of him, Gray began to channel the last of his magical power throughout his tired and beaten body, hoping that it would be enough to completely freeze the monster.

But the demon would not stay still; it roared and stomped towards Gray every time he took up the position, not letting him pause for even a moment to begin to perform the dangerous technique.

"Damn it!" Gray cursed as he ducked under another swipe of the large paws, "I can't do Iced Shell if this bastard keeps moving!" He attempted to take up the stance again, but was forced to move, less he be squashed by a massive foot. "Damn! Damn! Damn! Stay still, you bastard!"

"Gray-sama!" Juvia called out to the frustrated mage, the last of her bottom half coming together. "Juvia will hold the demon still while Gray-sama uses his attack!" And before Gray could argue against, or agree with the idea, Juvia transformed into water once more and began to wrap herself around the demon's legs, twining herself up its torso and arms.

Juvia's face solidified out of the trembling water mass as the demon thrashed and tried to break free, appearing around eye-level with Gray on the demon's legs. "Hurry, Gray-sama!"

Gray could only stare blankly at her. "Juvia…you know that you'll-"

"Juvia knows that she will be frozen as well," the Rain woman said softly, still audible to the Ice mage through the roars of the demon, "but Juvia doesn't mind. Juvia will be part of Gray-sama forever, and nothing could make Juvia happier." The girl smiled at Gray again, her happy expression so startling in the depressing situation that Gray couldn't help but smile back. "Juvia couldn't imagine Juvia's life without Gray-sama, so Juvia is _happy _to sacrifice Juvia's own watery body and soul for Gray-sama's attack. Juvia must ask Gray-sama to hurry, though. Juvia doesn't know how much longer she can hold this demon back…"

As testimony to this statement, parts of Juvia's body broke off and splattered against the ground as the demon flexed, but that off-spray quickly slithered its way back to the main part of water and re-joined its efforts to hold the monster back.

"Right!" Gray nodded to Juvia before taking up the Iced Shell stance once more. "Iced Shell…!" His body began to glow with an ethereal light and slowly began to freeze. The demon screeched with anger as frost began to climb up its arm, a mirror image to Gray's own right arm that began to go an icy blue, before cracking harshly up it.

"Gray-sama…" Juvia murmured as the man continued to pour his magic into the attack as he stumbled forwards, right arm completely crumbled away and the other following not too long behind. Juvia could feel the icy burn of the Iced Shell as it ate away at her body, but it was a soothing and numbing feeling, rather than unpleasant. She could only hope that it was as painless for Gray as it was for her.

Making it to the demon's legs, Gray collapsed onto the ground as his left leg gave way, crumbling into softly glowing dust that joined up with the slowly freezing demon. He reached out with his only hand, the one that was disintegrating now, and placed it against Juvia's face, feeling the iciness of her skin as it joined into the rest of the ice covering the demon. "Juvia…" He leant forwards and placed his forehead against her, wishing that some sort of tears would come to his eyes, so that the hot liquid could heat up his frozen face.

The two kept their foreheads against one another as they stared into each other's eyes, ignoring how Gray's body was now disappearing entirely, and Juvia's body was now completely frozen either than her face.

Closing her eyes, Juvia took her last breath and last moment to tilt her head slightly to touch lips with Gray, feeling the last spark of warmth in her flare at the intimate touch that she had dreamt about for so long, before she became part of the ice – the ice that was made up of Gray's entire body and will.

The demon was now a frozen statue that stood guard outside of Port, the last testimony of Gray Fullbuster's and Juvia Lockser's strength – the strength that kept them together forever in an icy embrace that no one could thaw out.

They were one with each other forever and always.

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><p><strong>The summary was referencing to how the two had performed Union Raid together, which is the bonding of two mages magic and souls as they perform and attack that is a perfect combination of themselves.<strong>


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